Soba Noodle-Making Experience

In the Yatsugatake-Nanroku Area, the town of Kobuchizawa is known as a fashionable town that stands out from the rest. It also has a long history of being referred to as the "Horse Town," and is one of the few horse-riding towns in Japan. With art museums and resorts galore, it is also gaining popularity as a tourist destination. And within that popular area, a place where most travelers stop by is a rest area known as, Kobuchisawa Road Station.

Kobuchisawa Road Station

Kobuchisawa Road Station has a variety of things to offer. From natural hot springs (onsen) and farmers markets, to gift shops and restaurants filled with local foods. Furthermore, there is a place known as the Spatio Experience Factory where you can try your hand at a number of interesting, hands-on workshops.

Spatio Experience Factory

Of the workshops, especially popular is the soba noodle-making experience, which we will introduce to you today!

Enmei Soba Dokoro

Opening after renovations in May of 2019, it certainly gave off a new feel. Inside, we found the restaurant Enmei Soba Dokoro. Here, customers can learn how to make Soba noodles first-hand!
*Reservations are required for the workshop.

In addition to the soba noodle-making experience, it also offers meals using the noodles that were made in-house. The wall separating the kitchen is made from glass, allowing you to get an exclusive look at the noodle-preparation process! Today's entry will focus on the noodle-making experience offered by this restaurant.

▲Getting ready to start making soba

Beginners welcome! While being guided by the instructions of a well-seasoned chef, we had a wonderful first experience making soba.
  
After washing our hands and putting on our aprons, we were taught carefully about how soba is prepared. Everyone listened so diligently!

 
We all made sure to carefully measure the amount of flour and water. The amount of water can severely impact the success of your soba noodles, and the amount needed to be added will depend on the weather, temperature and humidity of the day.

 
Here we are kneading the soba dough. While checking both the hardness and the clumping of the dough, we often had to add more water for adjustments.
 
Putting all of our strength into it, we then began to form the shape of the noodles. Once the noodles reached a certain degree of hardness, it is time to move over to the chopping board and begin a kneading method called, “Kiku-neri.”

 
Next, we began to spread out the dough with our hands.
 
Folding up the flattened-out dough, we then proceeded to cut out the individual noodles, so that each and every strand was exactly the same width. This was surprisingly a very difficult task!

 
Once we finished cutting up all the noodles, our work was done. All that was left was to boil the noodles. From start to finish, the whole process took about an hour. 

 
Once the noodles were done boiling, they looked so good. You would have never thought they were made by beginners!

 
We had ours with tempura. The taste of soba made by your own hands truly has a special flavor to it!

Spatio Workshop Kitchen

Use this website to make reservations for the soba noodle-making experience. There are so many different experiences to choose from!

Spatio Workshop Kitchen website:
https://taiken.mkobuchisawa.jp/

Enmei Soba Dokoro

If you're just interested slurping some soba noodles, the same restaurant is open for dining-only customers as well.